The IBrailler software assist vision impaired persons to type in Braille in an Ipad which will convert into sighted letters. The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon I.C.T. Training Centre headed by Ms. Manique Gunaratne together with the vision impaired trainees supported the developers by checking the accessibility by providing them with new ideas. In March 2015 Sunday Times news paper published an article about the IBrailler software. It acknowledges the support given by the Employers’ Federation of Ceylon. Please read the article for more details about the IBrailler on:

Most vision impaired persons lack in their leadership skills. Due to attitude barriers and family barriers most vision impaired persons confine to the four walls of the house. It is very important to improve the leadership qualities of vision impaired persons in the very grassroots level. In order to address the above issue the Sri Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped and Myright Sweden organized a workshop for vision impaired persons in Gampaha, Kurunegala and Kandy districts in August 2014. The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon I.C.T. trainees were also included in this training in order to develop their leadership qualities so that it will improve their employability skills. It is also essential to educate them in their rights. Ms. Manique Gunaratne did the training on the United Nations Convention on rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD)

Vision impaired persons use the white cane as an eye. The sense of touch is felt by the tip of the white cane and thereby through sense they find their way. During the Second World War large number of soldiers became vision impaired. During that period Mr. Richard E. Hoover from America invented the white cane to rehabilitate the soldiers. Since then the white cane is used around the world as an assistive device for vision impaired persons.

In 1969 The International Federation of the Blind which is now known as the World Blind Union had its annual general meeting at Galle Face Hotel in Sri Lanka. At that meeting it was decided to declare 15 October as the International White cane Day. Since then each year on 15 October the International White Cane Day is celebrated around the world.

The white cane is divided into three parts.

1 The grip

The grip is the top part of the white cane and it is made out of rubber so that it is shock proof.

2 the Shaft

The shaft is the middle part of the white cane which is made out of one inch aluminum pipe.

3 The Tip

Bottom part of the white cane is called the tip which is made out of nylon rod.

The colour of the white cane is white because it can be seen at a longer distance for sighted persons. 6 inches from the bottom of the white cane is coloured in red to indicate that it is a blind person. 18 inches from the bottom is coloured in red in order to indicate that it is used by a deaf blind person. The weight of a white cane is 230 to 280g.

A white cane helps a vision impaired person to go to the destination he wants independently, safely and with the minimum period of time.

When a vision impaired person takes a white cane into his hand, he or she should decide where am I? Where should I go and how I am going.

Gate pattern is very important to walk with the white cane, which consist of body balance and the walk pattern. When you keep the left leg forward the tip of the white cane should touch the right edge of the body width.

There are technics for ascending, descending, walk through narrow ways, gliding, find gateways, walk through payments, crossing the road etc.

It is very important a vision impaired person to be independent with a white cane. Otherwise he or she will become double handicapped.

All vision impaired persons must be loud, proud and passionate when using the white cane.

Every year in October the former President of Sri Lanka His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa at his official residence, “Temple Trees” distributes the first set of white canes to mark the International White Cane Day. In October 2014 representatives from the Sri Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped and the Sri Lanka Council of Visually Handicapped Graduates were there to receive the white canes. Ms. Manique Gunaratne was also among the group of 6 vision impaired persons to receive the first set of white canes from His Excellency Mahinda Rajapaksa to mark the occasion.

Ms. Manique Gunaratne delivered two speeches on the “significance of the white cane” at the International White Cane Day celebration organized by the Sri Lanka Federation of the Visually Handicapped at the Public Library and at the Crist Church, organized by the National Forum of Visually Handicapped Women.

The Lenard Cheshire Disability Resource Centre organized an international workshop for participants from Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Philippine and Sri Lanka on “Disability” at Golden Star Hotel in Negombo In October 2014. The EFC LEED Project team members, Tanya Warnakulasuriya, Manique Gunaratne and Vasana Wijesinghe attended this workshop and a made a presentation on “Employment for persons with disabilities”. The team explained the activities of the Network on Disability and the best practices with case studies.

The Employers’ Federation of Ceylon, I.C.T. Training Centre for Persons with Disabilities was registered as a CISCO Academy in November 2014. It is another mile stone in the history of this I.C.T. Training Centre. The I.C.T. Training Centre conducts CISCO courses on Information Technology Essentials (I T E) a CCNA. The CISCO Sri Lanka had its CISCO Awards at Global Towers in November 2014. The E.F.C. I.C.T. Training Centre was recognized at the awards. Ms. Manique Gunaratne completed all CISCO examinations on Information Technology Essentials conducted by CISCO, Curtin University of Technology in Australia and S.L.I.I.T. (Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology). Now Ms. Manique Gunaratne joins the international team of Trainers to conduct CISCO courses. All academies and trainers were recognized at this awards ceremony.

In collaboration with the South Asian Disability Forum (SADF), the British Council (BC), the Comprehensive Health and Education Forum International (CHEF) and the Asia-Pacific Development Center on Disability (APCD), the “South Asian Disability and Development Initiative (SADDI)” has been implemented to address disability and gender inequality and empowering women with disabilities in South Asia.

In this context, the “Regional Capacity Building Training of Women with Disabilities in South Asia” was organized at the APCD training building in Bangkok, Thailand. Moreover, the “Asian and Pacific Conference on Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment: Beijing +20 Review” was also scheduled at the United Nations Convention Centre. The aim of a series of events was to strengthen the capacity of the selected young female leaders with disabilities in South Asia. Ms. Manique Gunaratne was invited as a panelist at the UN ESCAP conference. The participants were Heads of states, Ministers, High Level Government officials, representatives from civil societies and high level officials. She addressed the gathering on “Mainstreaming women with disabilities”. It was the first time a Sri Lankan woman with a disability addressing a UN gathering. There was a very good response for the presentation.

There is a video clip about the above conference on the following link.

The Sri Lanka Broadcasting Corporation, Sinhala National Service broadcasts a programme titled “Anduren Eliyata” (Darkness to light) produced by Sujeewa Manage every Tuesday at 11.00 a.m. This programme is especially to feature persons with disabilities and awareness on disability.

In December 2014 Manique Gunaratne was the resource person for this programme. She did two programmes half an hour each. One programme was on “Organisational leadership development for vision impaired young women” and on the other programme was on “Empowering women with disabilities”.